A 20% increase in gold production from its Macraes mine helped OceanaGold lift production from its United States and New Zealand operations by nearly 20% in its fourth quarter.
The company’s fourth-quarter operational report and snapshot of its full-year operations, which will be fully reported on February 20, showed annual gold production of 470,601oz — including 108,151oz produced in the fourth quarter — was in line with revised 2019 consolidated production guidance of 460,000oz to 480,000oz.
Chief executive Mick Wilkes said it was pleasing to report a stronger quarter-on-quarter operating performance from Macraes, in East Otago, and Haile, in South Carolina, in particular.
At Macraes, the operation produced 172,475oz of gold, including 45,505oz in the quarter. The 20% increase was attributable to a higher head grade from Coronation stage 5 and the Frasers Underground.
Full-year all-in-sustaining-costs (AISC) at Macraes was $US1115 ($NZ1725) an ounce on sales of 175,819oz of gold for the full year and $US1039 an ounce of sales on 46,355oz of gold sold in the fourth quarter.
Looking ahead, the company expected steady production and flat AISC from Macraes while plans to increase the mine life were progressing well.
The company was working on a pre-feasibility study in relation to an underground mine at Golden Point and expected to complete that study in the second half of 2020.
OceanaGold’s copper production for 2019 was 10,255 tonnes while silver production was 385,853oz, both within the company’s revised 2019 production guidance ranges.
